


The Day Root's World Went Away

by EternallyEC



Series: When An Arrow Goes Astray [1]
Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Episode: s05e10 The Day the World Went Away, F/F, Gen, Non-Canonical Character Death, canon re-write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22264213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternallyEC/pseuds/EternallyEC
Summary: Root spent nine months doing anything she could to get Shaw back. But this? This is something that's unfixable, even for the Machine.- OR -What would have happened if Shaw had died in 5x10 instead?
Relationships: Root & John Reese, Root/Sameen Shaw
Series: When An Arrow Goes Astray [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602673
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	The Day Root's World Went Away

**Author's Note:**

> So, first of all, I'm really sorry! Let me preface this by saying this is a role reversal where Shaw died in 5x10 instead of Root. If this isn't something you feel you can read, please don't. I know how triggering and harsh 5x10 is as it is (for me too) and the last thing I want to do is hurt anyone, so I wanted to be as upfront as possible here.
> 
> I randomly had the second part of the summary pop into my head earlier today and immediately had to write it. I just edited and added more to it and knew I had to post it.

Root is silent as she stands behind John in the middle of utter chaos. Sirens are blaring, bright searchlights threaten to blind her with their intensity, but none of that compares to the twisting in her heart when he turns to stare at her in unspoken horror.

_**Sameen**. _

She feels like she’s been holding her breath since they’d left the accident site earlier, the bullet holes in the windshield telling her all that she didn’t want to know. She’d begged the Machine not to say anything, desperate for a few moments more willful ignorance, an absolution that She had provided.

But now the time for absolution is past and she swallows, trying not to think in a brain that suddenly seems far too impossibly _loud._

Her jaw tightens and she tries to think of what Shaw would do if their situations were reversed. Breathe in, breathe out. Focus on the utter rage pooling in her belly and not the agonizing way her heart is ripping apart in her chest as she recognizes what John’s saying without words.

“ _Besides, if this is just another simulation, who cares if we die?”_

Root’s own words spin around in her head, much like the roundabout that Shaw had told her about, and her own flippant tone makes her queasy as she tries to ignore it.

**_Think of what Shaw would do. Focus on the mission._ **

“ _War requires sacrifice.”_

The memories continue to spin around in her head, making her dizzier by the second and the next thing she knows, she’s halfway on the ground, John’s arms the only thing keeping her from collapsing fully.

“Root?” he murmurs, and she has to shut her eyes at the sight of the grief in his own eyes. “We need to get out of here.”

“We need to find Harry,” she says weakly, no longer able to keep up the act. Try as she might, she’s _not_ Shaw and now, nobody ever will be again.

She never should have let Sameen leave with Harry, never should have offered to stay behind to distract the operatives while they got away. It should have been _her_ in that car. With all the darkness she’s left in her wake, all that she’d ever wanted a good end, a good end like sacrificing herself for Harry the way the Machine whispers that Shaw had done.

Shaw deserves better than that, better than to have survived months of torture at Samaritan’s hands only to wind up dead just weeks after finding her way home.

“I got a feeling Finch isn’t here anymore,” John says soberly, helping Root to stand when she starts to struggle to right herself. Keeping a gentle hand on her shoulder, he gives her a searching look that she tries to ignore.

“Then why did his number come up?” she questions, her mouth setting in a determined line as she focuses on the mission, grateful for something else to think about if only for a few minutes.

“I think it was warning us about what he might do to them,” he says gravely, and Root’s lips slowly quirk up into a cunning, dangerous smile at the thought.

“Then what are we waiting for?” she says simply, her eyes burning with a dark rage she hasn’t felt since just after Sameen’s capture.

Samaritan had taken _everything_ from her now and even if she died trying, she _would make them pay._

**_It’s what Sameen would have wanted_** , she thinks grimly as she stiffly climbs into the passenger seat and stares out the window as John starts the car. She swipes a hand angrily across her eyes to get rid of the wetness she can feel there.

When Hanna had been murdered, Samantha Groves had died along with her. When Shaw had locked them in an elevator and been used for target practice, the elevator closing on Martine’s gun at her temple, a part of Root had died. And when she’d had to watch Sameen be led to a car so far out of her reach at the hospital months ago, the part of her that was _Root_ had nearly died completely.

She doesn’t want to think about who she’ll become now. She doesn’t know how to be Root without Shaw and suddenly, the cruel irony of the day comes back to haunt her.

“ _Actually, Sameen… I’ve been hiding since I was twelve. This might be the first time I feel like I belong.”_

Her stomach coils tightly and Root fights back a groan, barely managing to hit the button to roll down the window before leaning out and retching. She can hear John saying something but the roar of the wind and the honks and shouted obscenities of passing traffic drowns him out.

By the time he’s pulled off to the shoulder, Root is finished and collapses back into the seat with clammy hands and a sheen of sweat plastering her hair to her forehead.

“Root,” John is saying, taking a hand between the two of his and rubbing it gently. She hums, the action both comforting and nice and sorely needed.

“We need to go to the safe house,” he says in a low voice, and just like that, the illusion of comfort shatters and Root’s jerked back to reality before she’s ready.

“We can’t, John,” she says, her voice tight and laced with pain. “We have to find Harry before he gets himself _killed_.”

“And we will,” he says softly, voice comforting as he puts a calming hand on her shoulder. “But it’s been a hell of a day and we both need some rest. We won’t find any trace of Harold unless we’re at our best, even if the Machine was willing to help us.”

“Which She won’t be,” Root sighed, nodding reluctantly. “Even if Harry has set Her free, She won’t disobey his wishes. She’s loyal, almost to a fault,” she says with a tight smile.

“Exactly,” John nods. “So we might as well rest for the night and try to track him down in the morning.”

She nods absently, though the idea of getting anything resembling rest again now that Sameen’s gone seems beyond absurd. Still, she’s convincing enough because John starts the car again and the cool breeze helps to ground Root and ease her churning stomach as they drive into an uncertain future.

**Author's Note:**

> I may or may not write more in this universe to appease my own curiosity of what the final episodes would have been if Root had been around for them, so please let me know if that's something you'd like to see! I went ahead and created a series just in case, so feel free to subscribe to it if you'd like to be updated if I ever do add a new part!
> 
> I can say nothing in my defense except that I really love angst, even when I'm ripping my own heart out.


End file.
